Our future home...a blessing from my dad

We have been working hard on my Dad's house over the past few weeks. It already looks like a completely different place, but there is still much to be done before Adam and I are able to move in and make it a home. It is a true blessing in the midst of the difficulty of losing my dad. While I will always wish I still had him here to live life's moments, we are truly thankful to him for giving us a place to make our own.

This is the house last summer when my sister and I did some work and organizing for dad.We were able to give away all of the furniture through Craig's List and knowing our dad was the king of recycling we knew he would have wanted things to go to good use. We also donated the books that we did not keep since our dad was such a lover of books. After going through the house and organizing what Anna and I would hold onto, what we would donate and what needed to be gotten rid of we began work on the house itself. We pulled out the carpet and a few trees and have since been working on each room. We even filled two 30 foot dumpsters. Here are some photos of the progress thus far.(A clean slate, the house from the front...we'll be getting new windows, siding and a roof since the window pains have gotten old and lost their seals, the back of the house has to be resided and the trees have damaged the 20 year old roof, so these will all be freshened up, as will the landscaping. It is really going to be beautiful again, just like when dad first bought the house years ago. We've already gotten approval from the neighborhood association on the siding color which will be country beige instead of yellow with white trim instead of blue trim and a new brown roof.)(We're preparing to paint, hence the tape in the dining room. Yes, we will actually have a dining room in which I can put my Nana's dining room set which she left with us here in Virginia. I'm looking forward to many more memorable meals around that table. Get excited for your invite to dinner! The photo above that is the living room. It is pretty spacious!)(This was a coat closet downstairs that was plumbed to be a half bath if the home owner ever wished. We think it would be a good idea to convert that closet, so half bath it will become and the pantry closet will now serve as the future coat closet.)(This is the kitchen and with Brad's help it is about to be TRANSFORMED! We have already cleared out all of the cabinetry and appliances to make room for the new cabinets, counter tops and appliances! It is going to be beautiful. Hopefully it can serve as a real good before and after kitchen rehab for Appliance Enterprise and their kitchen remodels. We even cut a pass way in the wall between the dining room and the kitchen so that as you look out from the sink you can see right into the dining room, giving the house a more open layout. You can see that transformation in the next shot.)

(Bedrooms and masterbath.)

(This was the latest adventure, upon trying to replace the back door a back window literally fell out of the house. What did we discover but water and termite damage. Therefore the entire back wall of the downstairs actually has to be rebuilt. This is why in the end we are now replacing the siding on the house as well as an extra reason to replace the windows. )


Needless to say, this will in many ways be a new home when all is said and done and hopefully we won't have any more new discoveries as we continue to rehab the house. No doubt a lot of time and sweat will have gone into making this house and a new home for our family. We hope it will honor our dad as well as we fix his house and make it our own. We'll keep everyone updated with pictures as the house comes along.